


Just a Simple Sick Fic

by Uozumi



Series: Tumblr fic prompts from various fandoms [12]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Classic Doctor Who References, F/M, For a Friend, I Blame Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 16:53:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3418337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uozumi/pseuds/Uozumi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor comes down with a cold that humans have a natural immunity to. Luckily, a room in the TARDIS can help him heal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Simple Sick Fic

**Author's Note:**

> **Title** _Just a Simple Sick Fic_  
>  **Author** Uozumi  
>  **Fandom** _Doctor Who_  
>  **Character(s)/Pairing(s)** Clara Oswald, Twelfth Doctor; Clara/Doctor (whouffaldi)  
>  **Genre** Drama/Het/Sci-Fi/Sick  
>  **Rating** G  
>  **Word Count** 1,109  
>  **Disclaimer** Doctor Who c. BBC  
>  **Summary** The Doctor comes down with a cold that humans have a natural immunity to. Luckily, a room in the TARDIS can help him heal.  
>  **Warning(s)** spoilers up through series eight’s “Last Christmas”  
>  **Notes** A friend is sick and wanted to read Whouffaldi sick!fic, so I obliged. Clever titles elude me tonight.

**_Just a Simple Sick Fic_ **

“And then…” the Doctor’s voice trailed and he sneezed. He sneezed so violently that his entire body shook. As soon as the sneeze finished, he sneezed three more times until he was on his knees.

Clara did not touch him, but she did step closer. “Are you alright?” she asked.

The Doctor sniffed, swallowed, and then shivered involuntarily. “No,” he said. He got to his feet and swayed. 

Clara still did not touch him, but she hovered, tilting her head so she could keep sight of his eyes as he rose. His eyes were bloodshot and watery. If the Doctor were human, she would suspect he had a cold. 

“It’s a Venusian cold,” the Doctor said after noting the look in her eyes. “You’ve got a natural immune…immune…” He sneezed five times in rapid succession. His knees buckled and he reached out, grabbing onto the rockface beside them. They were on one of the mountains of Ceti Alpha II. The intent was to watch the suns rise but the horizon from the tallest point in the Ashkin basin. “You’ve got a natural immunity,” the Doctor said once the sneezing fit passed. 

“I don’t think I’ve been to Venus,” Clara said. She looked at the pathway. The TARDIS was several meters below on the nearest plateau. “How can I be immune?” she asked. She tried not to look at the oozing snot on the trail. Whatever the Doctor had, it seemed to increase his body’s ability to produce mucus. 

“You’re from Earth,” the Doctor said. “The nature of your blood makes you immune.” He shivered again and his hand pressed to his chest. He took a breath that sounded like a gurgle. 

Clara handed him some tissues from a small pack she kept in her jacket pocket. “I didn’t know you could get sick.”

“I don’t often,” the Doctor said. He wiped at his nose and then stuck the mucus-laden tissue in a pocket. His legs threatened to give way again. Clara slipped under one of his arms. There was just enough room for both of them side-by-side on the path. 

“Come on,” she said, “back to the TARDIS.” 

They were slow going and the Doctor kept sneezing in multiples of three or five. When they reached the plateau, he fell to his knees and sneezed ten times in a row, his entire body shaking with each sneeze. 

“Is there anything in the TARDIS that can help?” Clara asked. 

“The Zero Room,” the Doctor said and took the remainder of tissues from Clara. He let her help him to his feet. He leaned heavily on her as they walked towards the TARDIS. “It’s for difficult regenerations, but it can speed up healing.” 

They entered the TARDIS and Clara helped the Doctor down onto the steps in the console room. She went to the chair and grabbed a blanket from it. Earlier, when Clara’s body decided it was time for sleeping, she fell asleep in the chair and found the blanket over her when she woke. She put the blanket around the Doctor’s shoulders and helped him back to his feet. “Where is the Zero Room?” she asked. 

The Doctor did not answer. He shivered continuously now. He looked paler than normal, which Clara did not think was possible. Small glowing footprints appeared in front of them. Clara looked up at the ceiling of the TARDIS. “Thank you,” she said. 

The footprints led Clara to a room with a pleasant peachy pink glow. She waited while the Doctor to sneeze for a record of eighteen sneezes in a row before she asked, “Is this it?”

He nodded. Clara helped him inside and looked around. “There aren’t any chairs or bed,” she said. Roundels littered the walls. They were about the same size as the roundels in the console room except they covered the entire surface of each wall. 

“You can let go now,” the Doctor said. Clara looked at him uncertainly. “What is the word you humans use when you want to trick someone into doing something?” He paused. “Please.” 

Clara slowly let him go. The Doctor was still shivering and there was a steady trail of mucus from one nostril. He stepped away from her and wrapped the blanket tighter around him. He held her gaze and slowly began to levitate from the ground. He then tucked his legs underneath himself and sat in mid-air. 

Clara blinked. “And you’re not going to fall the next time you sneeze?” she asked. She ran a hand through the air under one of the Doctor’s shoes. He was definitely hovering in the air unassisted. 

“The Zero Room has its own physics,” the Doctor said. He repositioned the blanket. 

“I’ll go find more tissues,” Clara said. She had a suitcase full of various toiletries and other Earth necessities in her room. She returned with two boxes, but by then, the Doctor had stopped oozing and his sneezing had gone from six sneezes to three. He cleaned himself up and put the used tissues in his pockets.

“When we get out of this room, I’m going to make you turn out your pockets,” Clara said. She reached up and touched his forehead. He moved to step back, but she grasped his wrist. “Stay still.” 

The Doctor did not move. His eyes shifted from her hand on his forehead to her face. “Is it sixteen degrees?” he asked. 

“It’s cold,” Clara said, “but you always feel cold.” She removed her hand from his forehead. “Maybe you should sleep the rest of this off.” She put both her hands around his hand. “You keep shivering.”

“It will pass,” the Doctor said. He had not sneezed since the last round of three. He watched her let go of his hand so she could pick his other hand up in both of hers. 

“It will pass in bed,” Clara said firmly. “I know you sleep sometimes.” 

The Doctor sighed. He let her lead him down the hall to a room she ushered him into whenever she thought sleep was his answer. He sat on the bed, still wrapped up in the blanket. Clara nudged his foot with hers and he removed his shoes and stretched out on the bed. Clara helped put the blankets over him. 

“Do you need anything?” Clara asked. She ran her fingers through his hair. 

The shivered was beginning to subside. The Doctor looked up at her. He opened his mouth and then closed it. “I’ll be fine.”

Clara nodded. Her fingers slowly left his hair. “If you need me, I’ll be next door.” She left after his eyes closed and the shivering stopped entirely.

**The End**


End file.
